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Ask HN: What age do you expect to be able to retire?

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Re: Ask HN: What age do you expect to be able to retire?

#31

Post by yodsanklai »

Funny to read that a lot of young people expect to retire at 40.

A friend of mine did it, at 30. It sounded like a good plan. Living in a developing country with a small capital. Ten years later, he's broke, isolated, unable to travel or to access good medical care or even to provide good education to his daughter. At 40, after 10 years of doing nothing in a poor country, he has very limited options to make money.

Another thing to keep in mind is that retiring implies a change in lifestyle. Once you get used to a lifestyle, it's difficult to go back.

To answer the question, I think I'll retire the day where I'm unable to work. Hopefully not before my 60s.

Re: Ask HN: What age do you expect to be able to retire?

#35

Post by monsieurbanana »

Veratyr wrote: post #19
noretire wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re only 23 and you want to retire?

As soon as I can! I think it's insane that I'm spending my most able-bodied years sitting behind a desk writing code all day instead of with my wife or (not yet conceived) children.

Maybe in a hundred years it will be insane, once society catches up with technological progress.

For now, what's insane is thinking that society can survive with people not working in their able-bodied years.

Re: Ask HN: What age do you expect to be able to retire?

#36

Post by Maro »

sleazebreeze wrote: post #4

Not too far off it myself, but I save 75%+ of my post-tax income. Note that I do not deprive myself of luxuries, I am merely skilled at delayed gratification and grew up very financially unstable. I have a lovely 2017 car with My timeline is 5-10 years to be safe (age ~40). However, I get satisfaction out of creating and delivering software, beyond collecting a paycheck and don't have any intention to stop working -…

When I lived in Budapest, I was able to save ~50% of my invome. When I lived in London, I was able to save 60-70% of my income. Here in Dubai I can save 70-80%.

Reason: (i) no kids (ii) I don't need anything other than phones and Macbooks and some shoes (iii) no expensive cars/houses to maintain (iv) high income (but not out of the ordinary for Eng).

More generally: earn money in high pay cities and live frugally (London, Dubai), spend money in low cost cities (Budapest). Works like a charm.

Re: Ask HN: What age do you expect to be able to retire?

#38

Post by consz »

late 20s. Probably could retire right now; planning on retiring by 32-35.

I save between 95-98% of my income. Max out all tax-advantaged accounts (401k, Roth IRA if income is low enough). No children.

Easiest mechanism, by far, is to reduce spending. After rent + eating out + drugs, I average between 100-200 a month in spending.

I think, if you're able to reduce spending heavily, you should aim for the highest possible salary you can get, regardless of cost of living (well, no company in the world could afford to pay me to move to SFBA, but that's more for personal reasons).

Value all options at zero -- all my compensation has always been in cash.

Invest money. I prefer putting 110% into S&P 500 indices (low effort; typically 30-60minutes/year of work). Some people prefer rental properties. Do whatever is most diversified if your goal is retirement.

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